[Senate Report 108-213]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 419
108th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 108-213
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PROVIDING FOR THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE LUMBEE TRIBE OF NORTH CAROLINA,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
November 25, 2003.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Campbell, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 420]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the
bill (S. 420), to provide for the acknowledgment of the Lumbee
Tribe of North Carolina, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an
amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends that the
bill (as amended) do pass.
Purpose
S. 420 would provide Federal recognition to the Lumbee
Tribe of North Carolina and make applicable to the Lumbee Tribe
and its members all laws that are generally applicable to
Indians and Federally-recognized Indian tribes. The substitute
amendment adopted by the Committee is identical to H.R. 898
introduced by Mr. McIntyre and Mr. Hayes in the House of
Representatives on February 25, 2003, and referred to the House
Committee on Resources.
Background
Previous recognition attempts
The issue of the status of the Lumbee Tribe of North
Carolina (the ``Tribe'') comes to the Committee with a
voluminous congressional and administrative record. Beginning
in 1899, numerous bills have been introduced in Congress to
recognize the Tribe. See H.R. 4009, 56th Cong., 1st Sess.; H.R.
19036, 61st Cong., 2d Sess.; S. 3258, 62d Cong., 1st Sess.;
[House companion H.R. 20728]; H.R. 8083, 68th Cong., 1st Sess.;
S. 4595, 72d Cong., 2d Sess.; H.R. 5365, 73d Cong., 1st Sess.
[Senate companion S. 1632]; H.R. 4656, 84th Cong., 1st Sess.;
H.R. 5042, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. [Senate companion S. 2672];
H.R. 2335, 101st Cong., 1st Sess. [Senate companion S. 901];
H.R. 1426, 102d Cong., 1st Sess. [Senate companion S. 1036];
H.R. 334, 103d Cong., 1st Sess.
Hearings were held and reports filed on several of these
bills. See Hearing before the Senate Committee on Indian
Affairs on S. 3258, 62d Cong., 2d Sess., April 4, 1912; Hearing
before the Committee on Indian Affairs, House of
Representatives, on S. 3258, Feb. 14, 1913; H. Rep. No. 1752,
73d Cong., 2d Sess.; S. Rep. No. 204, 73d Cong., 2d Sess.; H.
Rep. No. 1654, 84th Cong., 2d Sess.; S. Rep. No. 84-2012, 84th
Cong., 2d Sess.; S. Rep. No. 100-579, 100th Cong., 2d Sess.; H.
Rep. No. 102-215, 102d Cong., 1st Sess.; H. Rep. No. 103-290,
103d Cong., 1st Sess. In addition, Congress requested and
obtained substantial reports from the Department of the
Interior on the Tribe's history and status. See Indian School
Supervisor Pierce Report, filed with Senate on April 4, 1912;
Special Indian Agent McPherson report, Doc. No. 677, 53d Cong.,
2d Sess., prepared in 1914; Report of J.R. Swanton, Smithsonian
Institute, at request of Bureau of Indian Affairs and submitted
to Congress at the 1933 hearing; and Fred A. Baker Report on
the Siouan Tribe of Indians of Robeson County, July 9, 1935.
These hearings and studies concluded that the Lumbees were a
distinct, viable Indian community descended from Siouan
speaking tribes, principally the Cheraw.
The various bills to recognize the Tribe failed generally
due to the opposition of the Department of the Interior. The
Department's opposition was typically based on the cost of
providing services, not on questions related to the Tribe's
Indian ancestry or tribal governmental status. For example, in
1890 Commissioner of Indian Affairs Moore recommended that
Congress reject the Tribe's first request for recognition in
1888, made in the form of a formal petition to Congress signed
by tribal leaders, on the grounds of cost, advising Congress:
While I regret exceedingly that the provisions made
by the State of North Carolina are entirely inadequate,
I find it quite impractical to render any assistance at
this time. The government is responsible for the
education of something like 36,000 Indian children and
has provision for less than half that number. So long
as the immediate wards of the government are so
insufficiently provided for, I do not see how I can
consistently render any assistance to the Croatans or
any other civilized tribes.
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as quoted in the O.M. McPherson
Report on Condition and Tribal Rights of the Indians of Robeson
and Adjoining Counties of North Carolina, at page 40, Doc. No.
677, 53d Cong., 2d sess. (1914).
As Commissioner Moore indicated, the Tribe was recognized
by the State of North Carolina, and has been so continuously
since 1885. In its recognition acts, the State of North
Carolina imposed various names on the Tribe, based on the
representations of local historians and members of the
legislature regarding the Tribe's history. These included
Croatan [1885 to 1911], Indians of Robeson County [1911 to
1913], Cherokee Indians of Robeson County [1913-1953], and
finally Lumbee Indians [1953 to present]. Because of the
Department's research, the Tribe became dissatisfied with its
name under state law. Under pressure from the Tribe, the state
authorized the Tribe to conduct a referendum on its name. The
Tribe did so in 1952 and voted overwhelmingly for the adoption
of the name Lumbee, derived from the Lumber River, where the
Tribe resided historically and continues to reside at present.
The State of North Carolina changed its law to reflect this
name change in 1953. The Tribe has ever since been recognized
by the state as the Lumbee Tribe.
Congress' deliberations on the Tribe's history produced
more authoritative reports by the Department of the Interior.
In 1934, the Department expressed to Congress the view, based
upon a report by the eminent John R. Swanton of the Bureau of
Ethnology, that the Lumbees descend from the Cheraw and related
Siouan speaking tribes of coastal North Carolina. This
conclusion has since been corroborated by leading historians in
the field, including Dr. William Sturtevant, editor in chief of
the Smithsonian Institution's Handbook of North American
Indians and Dr. James Merrell, professor of colonial history at
Vassar College.
As it had in the past, the Tribe in 1955 sought Federal
recognition based on the recently amended state law. Again, the
Department opposed the bill and recommended that Congress amend
the bill by including termination language, consistent with the
then-prevailing Federal Indian policy of termination. This
amended bill was enacted by Congress in 1956, Pub. L. 84-570,
Act of June 7, 1956, 70 Stat. 254. Thus, Congress
simultaneously acknowledged the Lumbee Indians and terminated
the Tribe from Federal Indian services and benefits. In 1989,
the Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs concluded in a
formal opinion that the 1956 Lumbee Act precludes the Tribe
from participating in the Department of the Interior's
acknowledgment process for Indian tribes. See Memorandum to
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the
Interior, Office of the Solicitor [BIA.IA.0929] (1988).
The only other Indian tribe placed by Congress in precisely
the same anomalous position is the Tiwa Tribe of Texas. Using
the 1956 Lumbee Act as the model, in 1968 the Congress enacted
a statute that acknowledged the Tiwas--a state recognized
tribe--as Indians but precluded the application of general
Indian statutes and the delivery of Federal services to the
tribe. See H. Rep. No. 1070, 90th Cong., 2d Sess.; 82 Stat. 93.
As a result, the Tiwas were ineligible for the administrative
acknowledgment process, just as are the Lumbees. In 1987,
Congress enacted legislation to restore the Tiwas, renamed the
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, to the Federal relationship, Pub. L.
100-89, Act of August 18, 1987, 101 Stat. 667.
The Federal Acknowledgment Process criteria
At the September 17, 2003, hearing the Committee received
testimony indicating that, were the Lumbee Tribe eligible for
administrative acknowledgment, the Tribe would meet all but one
of the mandatory criteria set forth in the Bureau of Indian
Affairs' Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP). See 25 C.F.R.
Sec. 83.7.
First, the evidence contained in the numerous Congressional
and Administrative reports establishes that the Tribe is
descended from the historic Cheraw and related Siouan-speaking
tribes. Historically, the Cheraw were located on Drowning Creek
in North Carolina. Drowning Creek was renamed the Lumber River
by the State of North Carolina in 1809. The ancestors of the
modern day Lumbee Tribe have been located on and around
Drowning Creek/Lumber River ever since the first contact with
Europeans in the early 1700's. Modern day Lumbee Indians share
the same distinctive surnames as the historic Cheraw Tribe,
i.e., Locklear, Chavis, Groom and others. This evidence
supports the Department's view expressed in 1934 that the
Lumbee Tribe descends from the historic Cheraw Tribe and meets
one of the FAP mandatory criteria. See 25 C.F.R. Sec. 83.7(e).
Second, Dr. Jack Campisi, a recognized expert in matters of
Federal recognition and on the Lumbee Tribe's history,
testified at the Committee's hearing on September 17, 2003,
that the Tribe meets the high evidence standard for community
and political authority two ways: by geographic concentration
and in-marriage. Dr. Campisi testified that approximately 65%
of the approximately 53,000 tribal members reside in the core
area of Robeson and adjoining counties; this exceeds the 50%
requirement for conclusive proof of community and political
authority under the regulations. See 25 C.F.R.
Sec. 83.7(b)(2)(i). Dr. Campisi also testified that 70% of
those tribal members who are married are married to other
tribal members. Again, this exceeds the 50% requirement for
conclusive proof of community and political authority in the
regulations. Id. at Sec. 83.7(b)(2)(ii), and Sec. 83.7(c)(3).
Key events in the history of the Tribe corroborate its
separate existence as a political community. See 25 C.F.R.
Sec. 83.7(a). During the Civil War, the North Carolina Home
Guard attempted to conscript ancestors of the Lumbee into
confederate service. The Lumbees resisted this effort,
resulting in the formation of a defensive band led by Henry
Berry Lowrie. Lowrie was protected by tribal members and never
captured by the Home Guard. Lowrie is a folk hero among the
Lumbee and his life is commemorated today in the annual
``Strike at the Wind'' outdoor drama held by the Tribe.
Later, in 1887 the State of North Carolina established a
separate state-funded school system for Lumbee children, one
that the Tribe itself ran. In 1913, the State Attorney General
opined that the county school board could override tribal
decisions regarding eligibility to attend the Lumbee schools.
Tribal leaders objected to this infringement on their
independence and in 1921 convinced the state legislature to
pass special legislation setting aside the Attorney General's
opinion. The Indian Normal School established by the state in
1888 to train Lumbee teachers for the Tribe's school system has
been in continuous operation and is today the University of
North Carolina at Pembroke.
It appears that the Tribe can provide substantial evidence
to support its claim to meet all of the mandatory criteria
except one--that it is not ``the subject of congressional
legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the
federal relationship.'' 25 C.F.R. Sec. 83.7(g).
Finally, the Committee stresses that the Lumbee Tribe of
North Carolina is different from every other non-Federally
recognized tribe in several respects. First, it is the largest
non-Federally recognized tribe in the country, with a tribal
enrollment of 53,000. The Committee received a letter of
support for S. 420 from retired Bureau of Indian Affairs
official Bud Shapard, the principal author of the
acknowledgment regulations. Mr. Shapard observed that the
administrative process was simply not designed to handle
petitions from tribes the size of the Lumbee Tribe. Second, the
Congress has an extraordinary record on the Lumbee Tribe
developed in response to the Tribe's more than hundred year
effort to obtain Federal recognition. This record corroborates
the tribal existence of the Lumbees. Finally, the Lumbee Tribe
has received substantial support from Indian tribal leaders
throughout the country, and Indian tribal organizations,
including the National Congress of American Indians, and from
some, but not all, of the tribes within the United South and
Eastern Tribes organization. For these reasons, the Committee
is of the view that recognition by special legislation is the
appropriate remedy to the Tribe's anomalous status.
Summary of Major Provisions
The Lumbee Recognition Act, S. 420, amends Pub. L. 84-570,
to provide recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina
and to apply to the Tribe all Federal laws of general
application to Indians and Indian tribes.
The Committee notes the new section 2 imposes the same
trust responsibilities on the United States with respect to the
Lumbee Tribe that the United States holds with respect to every
other Federally recognized tribe. Under this bill, the Lumbee
Tribe shall enjoy no more and no less in terms of privileges,
immunities, powers, services and benefits than every other
Federally recognized tribe. The Committee further notes that
section 2 does not restore the Tribe, but extends Federal
recognition. Thus, the bill is not deemed to be a restoration
act, for purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25
U.S.C. Sec. 2701 et seq., or otherwise.
The bill does not create an Indian reservation but merely
defines a service delivery area within which the Tribe and its
members will be eligible to receive Federal services.
Additionally, land within that area will be eligible to be
taken into trust acquisition by the United States and will be
treated as on-reservation for all administrative purposes.
S. 420 also provides for verification of the tribal
membership roll by the Secretary of the Interior for purposes
of delivery of services. The Committee notes that this
verification is not intended to authorize the Secretary to
independently impose eligibility standards for membership.
Rather it is simply intended to provide the Secretary, in
keeping with her trust responsibilities, with oversight to
insure that each enrolled member actually appears on the
Tribe's membership roll with the supporting documentation
required by the Tribe.
The bill provides for the State of North Carolina to
continue to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction over
tribal members and any lands that may be acquired in trust for
the Tribe. The Committee notes that this provision is a
departure from long-established Federal Indian policy, which
provides generally for exclusive Federal and tribal civil and
criminal jurisdiction over tribal members and tribal lands.
However, similar jurisdictional provisions have been provided
by Federal statute on a case-by-case basis for specific Indian
reservations or within specific states. See e.g. P.L. 83-280,
67 Stat. 589, Aug. 15, 1953. The intent of this provision is to
maintain the status quo with respect to jurisdiction, since the
Tribe has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the State
of North Carolina, and is well represented among elected
members of local governments where tribal members are
geographically concentrated. The Committee further notes that
this bill makes provision for retrocession of that jurisdiction
from the State of North Carolina to the United States upon
agreement between the Tribe and the State of North Carolina.
Legislative History
S. 420 was introduced by Senator Dole on February 14, 2003,
and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. The Committee
held a hearing on the bill on September 17, 2003.
On October 30, 2003, Senator Edwards was added as
cosponsor. On November 10, 2003, Senators Akaka, Bennett,
Campbell, Craig, Crapo, Hatch, Inouye, McCain, McConnell,
Mikulski, Pryor, Smith, and Snowe were added as cosponsors.
Senator Lott was added as an additional cosponsor on November
13, 2003.
The Committee ordered the bill to be reported favorably
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute on October 29,
2003. The substitute is identical to H.R. 898, sponsored by Mr.
McIntyre and Mr. Hayes, and introduced in the House of
Representatives on February 25, 2003.
Section-by-Section Analysis of S. 420
Section 1 titles the bill the Lumbee Recognition Act.
Section 2 amends the preamble to the Act of June 7, 1956 by
incorporating Congressional findings that the Lumbee Indians of
Robeson and adjoining counties in North Carolina: (1) are
descendants of North Carolina Indian tribes, mainly Cheraw; (2)
have been recognized by the State of North Carolina since 1885;
(3) are subject to a 1956 Act of Congress that acknowledges the
Lumbee Indians as an Indian tribe but withholds the benefits,
privileges and immunities to which other Federally recognized
tribes are entitled; and (4) are entitled to Federal
recognition as a distinct Indian community.
Section 3 amends the 1956 Act by striking the last sentence
of the first section and section 2 and inserting the following
provisions to the Act:
A new section 2 provides for Federal recognition of the
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and for application to such
tribe of all Federal laws of general application to Indians and
Indian tribes.
A new section 3 (a) that provides that all members of the
Lumbee Tribe shall be eligible for services provided to Indians
because of their status as Indians and defines the service area
for delivery of those services as Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke,
and Scotland Counties in North Carolina. Subsection (b) directs
the Secretaries of the Department of the Interior and Health
and Human Services to conduct a needs assessment and develop a
budget for those services in consultation with the Tribe. Both
secretaries are directed to submit to Congress a written
statement of such needs and budget to Congress the first fiscal
year following the verification of a tribal roll under
subsection (c). Subsection (c) authorizes the Secretary of the
Department of the Interior to verify a tribal roll for the
purposes of the delivery of services within one year after the
date of enactment.
A new section 4 provides that any request by the tribe to
the Secretary of the Interior for a trust acquisition of land
in Robeson County, North Carolina, shall be treated as an on-
reservation acquisition under governing Federal regulations.
A new section 5(a) provides that the State of North
Carolina shall continue to exercise civil and criminal
jurisdiction over tribal members and any lands that may be
acquired in trust for the tribe. Subsection (b) authorizes the
Secretary of the Interior, after consultation with the Attorney
General of the United States, to accept a transfer of any
portion of jurisdiction from the state pursuant to an agreement
between the Lumbee Tribe and the state providing for such.
A new section 6 authorizes such sums as are necessary to
carry out the Act.
Committee Recommendation and Tabulation of Vote
On October 29, 2003, the Committee in an open business
session considered S. 420. During consideration of S. 420, a
substitute amendment was considered by the Committee. The
Committee by a voice vote favorably reported the bill, as
amended by substitute amendment, and recommended that the
Senate pass S. 420. Senator Thomas requested that he be
recorded as opposing the legislation.
Cost and Budgetary Considerations
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, November 21, 2003.
Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 420, the Lumbee
Recognition Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Lanette J.
Walker.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth M. Robinson
(For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
Enclosure.
S. 420--Lumbee Recognition Act
Summary: S. 420 would provide federal recognition to the
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. CBO estimates that implementing
S. 420 would cost the federal government about $430 million
over the 2004-2008 period, assuming that the tribe receives
services and benefits at a level similar to other currently
recognized tribes and that the necessary funds are
appropriated. Enacting S. 420 would have no effect on direct
spending or revenues.
S. 420 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would impose no direct costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of S. 420 is shown in the following table. The
costs of this legislation fall within budget functions 450
(community and regional development) and 550 (health).
Basis of estimate: S. 420 would provide federal recognition
to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina as an Indian tribe.
Although the bill does not specifically authorize the
appropriation of funds, it would make members of the Lumbee
eligible to receive services through the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS). Thus, those
federal agencies would be required to include members of the
tribe among those eligible for benefits and may need additional
appropriated funds to provide such benefits.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
--------------------------------------------
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
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CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Bureau of Indian Affairs:
Estimated authorization level.................................. 20 21 21 22 22
Estimated outlays.............................................. 15 20 21 21 22
Indian Health Service:
Estimated authorization level.................................. 62 64 66 67 69
Estimated outlays.............................................. 62 64 66 67 69
Total
Estimated authorization level................................ 82 85 87 89 91
Estimated outlays............................................ 77 84 87 88 91
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Bureau of Indian Affairs
As a federally recognized tribe, the Lumbee would be
eligible for various programs administered by BIA, including
child welfare services, adult care, child and family services,
and general assistance. Based on information from the tribe,
CBO estimates that S. 420 would increase such costs by about
$15 million in 2004 and about $100 million over the next five
years to support approximately 34,000 members of the Lumbee
Tribe, subject to the availability of appropriations. This
estimate is based on BIA's current per capita expenditures for
other tribes located in the eastern United States.
Indian Health Service
S. 420 also would make members of the Lumbee Tribe eligible
to receive health benefits from the IHS. Based on information
from IHS, CBO estimates that average spending per eligible
individual would be about $1,800 in 2004. As noted above, the
bill would make approximately 34,000 members of the Lumbee
Tribe eligible for benefits. Thus, CBO estimates that S. 420
would cost about $60 million in 2004 and about $330 million
over the 2004-2008 period, assuming appropriation of the
necessary funds.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 420
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA and would impose no direct costs on state,
local, or tribal governments.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Lanette J. Walker--
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Eric Rollins--Indian Health
Service. Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments:
Marjorie Miler. Impact on the Private Sector: Cecil McPherson.
Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Regulatory Impact Statement
Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in
carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 420, as
amended, will have a minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork
requirements.
Executive Communications
There have been no executive communications received on
this legislation.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman:)
Public Law 84-570
AN ACT Relating to the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina
Whereas many Indians now living in Robeson and adjoining
counties are descendants of that once large and
prosperous tribe which occupied the lands along the
Lumbee River at the time of the earliest white
settlements in that section; [and]
Whereas at the time of their first contacts with the colonists,
these Indians were a well-established and distinctive
people, living in European-type houses in settled towns
and communities, owning slaves and livestock, tilling
the soil, and practicing many of the arts and crafts of
European civilization; [and]
Whereas by reason of tribal legend, coupled with a distinctive
appearance and manner of speech and the frequent
recurrence among them of family names such as Oxendine,
Locklear, Chavis, Drinkwater, Bullard, Lowery, Sampson,
and other, also found on the roster of the earliest
English settlements, these Indians may, with
considerable show of reason, trace their origin to an
admixture of colonial blood with certain coastal tribes
of Indians; [and]
Whereas these people are naturally and understandably proud of
their heritage, and desirous of establishing their
social status and preserving their racial history[:
Now, therefore,];
Whereas the Lumbee Indians of Robeson and adjoining counties in
North Carolina are descendants of coastal North
Carolina Indian tribes, principally Cheraw, and have
remained a distinct Indian community since the time of
contact with white settlers;
Whereas since 1885 the State of North Carolina has recognized
the Lumbee Indians as an Indian tribe;
Whereas in 1956 the Congress of the United States acknowledged
the Lumbee Indians as an Indian tribe, but withheld
from the Lumbee Tribe the benefits, privileges and
immunities to which the Tribe and its members otherwise
would have been entitled by virtue of the Tribe status
as a federally recognized tribe; and
Whereas the Congress finds that the Lumbee Indians should now
be entitled to full Federal recognition of their status
as an Indian tribe and that the benefits, privileges
and immunities that accompany such status should be
accorded to the Lumbee Tribe: Now, Therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That the Indians now residing in Robeson and
adjoining counties of North Carolina, originally found by the
first white settlers on the Lumbee River in Robeson County, and
claiming joint descent from remnants of early American
colonists and certain tribes of Indians originally inhabiting
the coastal regions of North Carolina, shall, from and after
the ratification of this Act, be known and designated as Lumbee
Indians of North Carolina and shall continue to enjoy all
rights, privileges, and immunities enjoyed by them as citizens
of the State of North Carolina and of the United States as they
enjoyed before the enactment of this Act, and shall continue to
be subject to all the obligations and duties of such citizens
under the laws of the State of North Carolina and the United
States. [Nothing in this Act shall make such Indians eligible
for any services performed by the United States for Indians
because of their status as Indians, and none of the statutes of
the United States which affect Indians because of their status
as Indians shall be applicable to the Lumbee Indians. Sec. 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby
repealed.]
SEC. 2. RECOGNITION.
(a) In General.--Federal recognition is extended to the
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. All laws and regulations of the
United States of general application to Indians and Indian
tribes shall apply to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and
its members.
(b) Petition.--Notwithstanding the first section, any group
of Indians in Robeson and adjoining counties, North Carolina,
whose members are not enrolled in the Lumbee Tribe of North
Carolina as determined under section 3(c), may petition under
part 83 of title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations for
acknowledgment of tribal existence.
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR SERVICES AND BENEFITS.
(a) In General.--
(1) Services and benefits.--The Lumbee Tribe of North
Carolina and its members shall be eligible for all
services and benefits provided to Indians because of
their status as members of a federal recognized tribe.
(2) Residence on or near reservation.--For the
purposes of the delivery of such services, those
members of the tribe residing in Robeson, Cumberland,
Hoke, and Scotland counties in North Carolina shall be
deeded to be residing on or near an Indian reservation.
(b) Determination of Needs and Budget.--
(1) In general.--On verification by the Secretary of
the Interior of a tribal roll under subsection (c), the
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Health
and Human Services shall develop, in consultation with
the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, a determination of
needs and budget to provide the services to which
members of the tribe are eligible.
(2) Inclusion in budget request.--The Secretary of
the Interior and Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall each submit a written statement of such needs and
budget with the first budget request submitted to
Congress after the fiscal year in which the tribal roll
is verified.
(c) Tribal Roll.--
(1) In general.--For purposes of the delivery of
Federal services, the tribal roll in effect on the date
of the enactment of this section shall, subject to
verification by the Secretary of the Interior, define
the service population of the tribe.
(2) Verification.--The Secretary's verification shall
be limited to confirming compliance with the membership
criteria set out in the tribe's constitution adopted on
November 11, 2000, which verification shall be
completed not less than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this section.
SEC. 4. FEE LAND.
Fee land that the tribe seeks to convey to the United
States to be held in trust shall be treated by the Secretary of
the Interior as on-reservation trust acquisitions under part
151 of title 25 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor
regulation) if the land is located within Robeson County, North
Carolina.
SEC. 5. STATE JURISDICTION.
(a) In General.--The State of North Carolina shall exercise
jurisdiction over--
(1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and
(2) all civil actions that arise on, lands located
within the State of North Carolina that are owned by,
or held in trust by the United States for, the Lumbee
Tribe of North Carolina, or any dependent Indian
community of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
(b) Transfer.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior may
accept on behalf of the United States, after consulting
with the Attorney General of the United States any
transfer by the State of North Carolina to the United
States of any portion of the jurisdiction of the State
of North Carolina described in paragraph (1) under an
agreement between the Lumbee Tribe and the State of
North Carolina.
(2) Effective date.--Such transfer or jurisdiction
may not take effect until 2 years after the effective
date of the agreement.
(c) Effect of Section.--This section shall not affect the
application of section 109 of the Indian Child Welfare Act of
1978 (25 U.S.C. 1919).
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are
necessary to carry out this Act.